Marine brigs are understaffed, creating security risks for guards and prisoners alike, a government watchdog report warned Monday.

The Marine Corps is the only branch whose brig security officers work 24-hour shifts, according to the Government Accountability Office report. Corps officials told GAO auditors that the long shifts pose “a safety risk for commanders, the corrections staff, the general public, and the incarcerated person population.”

“We are aware of the GAO report and its findings, and are in the process of addressing staffing shortages noted in each facility,” Maj. Jim Stenger said in a statement to Marine Corps Times. “The health and safety of our Marines is paramount, including those incarcerated and those that staff our military correctional facilities.”

Stenger noted that 24-hour shifts are common in many fire departments and that staff have built-in periods to eat and sleep. The shifts are followed by 48 hours off duty, he added.

“Given that industry standards have moved away from this concept to more traditional shift schedules, we will likely also move away from that model in the future,” Stenger said.

In a performance audit conducted between March 2021 and December 2022, the GAO examined eight military correctional facilities, including the Marine Corps’ facilities at Camp Pendleton, California, and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. The GAO looked at previous audits and investigations, and interviewed command and MCF officials.

Although the audit focused on Camp Pendleton, California, and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, the report notes that Marine officials have identified shortages of active-duty staff at the service’s other three brigs as well — one in Yuma, Arizona, and two in Japan. From 2017 to 2022, the Corps’ number of active-duty brig personnel dropped 25% from 487 to 364, according to the report.

The Camp Pendleton, California, brig needs 27 more active-duty personnel, and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, needs seven, officials told the GAO.

The GAO also noted shortages of civilian employees in the Marine facilities. Camp Pendleton, California, still needs to hire a clinical social worker, the GAO audit found. The brig doesn’t have a designated medical or dental worker because of Navy staff shortages; prisoners still receive care from Navy medical, officials told the GAO. They may, therefore, have to be transported to the Naval hospital on the installation.

And at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, required weekly group therapy sessions directed by a licensed mental health professional weren’t happening because of a lack of funding, a 2021 inspector general report found. As of September 2022, that deficiency hadn’t been addressed, the GAO determined.

The brig there also lacks a civilian to serve as the top adviser on correctional policy, according to the GAO.

In response to the GAO’s findings, the Pentagon said the Marine Corps would work to address its employee shortfalls, according to the report. But the GAO report stated that it was up to local commanders to fill the empty slots, both active-duty and civilian, even if the Corps approves the additional billets.

Civilian prisons nationwide are also facing staff shortages and have ramped up recruitment efforts and hiring bonuses in response, Pew reported in September.

Irene Loewenson is a staff reporter for Marine Corps Times. She joined Military Times as an editorial fellow in August 2022. She is a graduate of Williams College, where she was the editor-in-chief of the student newspaper.

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